Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Lance Corporal Abbie Martin, 20, said she was "petrified" as she treated the injured comrade in Afghanistan with bullets flying overhead - but "my training kicked in".

L/Cpl Martin was on her first tour of duty and leapt into action when she heard there was a "man down" on the battlefiield.

"At first I was hiding and then everyone was giving me fire support so I could get to the guy and treat him," she said. "I was just thinking about the casualty - all the things I could do for him - my training just kicked in - as well as not getting shot. It was the most petrifying experience of my life but I knew I had that job and I had to do it."

Several days later, despite a struggle to come to terms with the horror of her first patrol, she treated multiple casualties after a grenade blast, saving all the injured.

Cpt Dobbin received the Military Cross for personally leading a 200m charge at insurgents in Nahr-e-Saraj last summer.

Captain Michael Dobbin, 28, Grenadier Guards, was on the same patrol with L/Cpl Ashworth, who gave his life, earning the Victoria Cross (yesterday's post - S.L.).

Lance Corporal Lawrence Kayser fought with shrapnel in his arm.

Lance Corporal Lawrence Kayser, 27, was awarded the Military Cross for saving fellow soldiers from a "potentially disastrous situation" in Helmand in June 2012 when his platoon came upon the enemy while preparing an ambush.

When his platoon suddenly came under fire, L/Cpl Kayser leapt from a ditch and charged Taliban fighters, shooting one enemy in his path before being hit by shrapnel from a grenade, which wounded his arm, but fought on, driving insurgents out of the compound.

At one point L/Cpl came face-to-face with the insurgent he said: "It was a surprise for both of us. Neither of us thought the other was there. I just had the feeling I wanted all the angles covered. He had an AK47. We both raised our rifles at the same time but I fired from the hip. Luckily he missed but I clipped him in the abdomen. He dived back as I dived to the side."

Sgt Geddes "breathed fire into the spirit of his men."

Sergeant Roy Geddes, 43, from the RAF Regiment, received the Military Cross after battling insurgents when they attacked Camp Bastion in September last year. He fought on despite being wounded in the knee after one of his vehicles was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Sgt Geddes is only the second member of the RAF to receive the MC for action in Afghanistan. He is recognised alongside Corporal Kurt Lee, 28, also from the RAF, who is Mentioned In Despatches for his own role in the battle.

1 comment:

Soldiers such as this is what permeated the ranks of the red and khaki. After reading of all the P.C. crap going on in England, I read stuff of this and am glad that the military still has the "right stuff" and am hopeful that England wikk rebound to her former glory.